ohn Dee's mentoring role
in the Frobisher expeditions may have been important, but was
largely informal and behind-the-scenes.
John
Dee (1527-1609) was educated at the universities of Cambridge
and Louvain, where he made contacts that would serve him well in later
years. At Cambridge he met men who were to become prominent in the court
of Elizabeth I, such as the future Lord
Burghley. At Louvain he studied with
experts in cosmography and
mathematics such as Gemma Frisius, Abraham Ortelius, Gerard
Mercator and Oronce Finé, and was also able to acquire
texts and instruments not available in England, including
mathematical, geographical and historical books and manuscripts,
compasses, two Mercator globes and a ring dial by Gemma Frisius.
Dee returned to England with knowledge and instruments necessary
for planning and undertaking long-distance exploratory voyages.
He put this knowledge at the service of the 1553 expedition seeking a
northeast passage and, as a result, became a scientific adviser to the
Muscovy Company. Years later, having
read Gilbert's unpublished treatise advocating
a search for a northwest passage, and learning that one of the Company's
agents, Michael Lok, was involved in such a
project, Dee showed interest and was again brought in as an adviser in
1576. He gave a crash-course to Frobisher,
Hall and others in the mathematical science
of navigation, and may have recommended works on cosmography and
navigation to be acquired for the voyages. In gratitude, Lok
bought Dee some shares in the venture; Dee may have invested a
little of his own money too. Dee was one of the commissioners
appointed to oversee the conduct of the expeditions and the
smelting operations, and probably contributed
to the drafting of the instructions governing the latter two voyages.
He acted in a similar advisory role to the Pet-Jackman voyage to
the northeast in 1580. His influence also extended to the later
(1585-87) northwest voyages of
John Davis,
who as a child had probably received some instruction from Dee in science
and navigation. Dee went so far as to claim credit for initiating
the Davis expeditions.
Dee produced several works which established him as a leading geographical
adviser and advocate
of the concept of a British Empire. He recognized that maritime
dominance, colonizing of new lands, and exploitation of mineral resources
there, were the key to England gaining the power to withstand or challenge
Spain. Brytanici Imperij Limites (The Limits of the British
Empire), written late in the 1570s, outlined Dee's belief in
Queen Elizabeth's power over most of the seas and a large amount
of land in the northern hemisphere. He used written histories,
travellers' accounts, ambassadors' letters and family trees to
support his conclusion. This text, along with a map which
summarized his claims, was presented to Queen Elizabeth and her
ministers in 1580.
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